Atlanta shootings kill 2 teenagers, police say

A warm, fall weekend afternoon in metro Atlanta quickly turned deadly Saturday afternoon outside a high school football game. Less than three hours later, another shooting killed a second teenager.

On Sunday police agencies worked to find those responsible for the shootings, which happened about 45 miles apart in DeKalb and Spalding counties and left both a 14-year-old and 15-year-old dead. Both cases were declared homicides, and in the Griffin shooting, the suspect was also a teenager.

The shootings were the latest in an alarming trend: More than 100 children and teenagers throughout Georgia have been killed by gun violence this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive that tracks incidents.

In the first of two weekend shootings involving teenagers, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by a classmate outside a high school football game Saturday afternoon, according to police. On Sunday, investigators were searching for a second teenager accused of the killing.

The shooting happened shortly before 5 p.m. near Griffin High School, police said.

At around 4:42 p.m., officers heard gunshots fired in the area, according to Investigator Richard Powell with Griffin police. Officers located the 15-year-old victim at the intersection of South 5th and East Poplar streets, Powell said.

Hours after the Griffin shooting, a 14-year-old died after being shot in DeKalb County, according to Lithonia police.

The teenager, whose name was not released, died in an ambulance while on the way to the hospital, Sgt. Jedidia Hazlewood said.

No further details were released about what led to the shooting.